Conscious

Money
Li"ing, Creaing, and In"esing #ih Yo!r
Val!es for a S!sainable Ne# Prosperi$
Patricia Aburdene
ATRI A B OOKS
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Copyright 2012 by Patricia Aburdene
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For Alain Bola with love and appreciation
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Conens
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction xiii
Par I: The Inner Dimension of Conscio!s Mone$
1. Fundamentals of Conscious Money 3
2. Making Conscious Money Choices: Self-Mastery, Thoughts,
and Emotions 23
3. Money Shadows and Higher Consciousness 55
Par II: The Conscio!s Markeplace
4. Trademarks of Conscious Capitalism 83
5. The Joy of Mindful Spending 117
6. The Wealth of Creativity 157
7. The Rewards of Conscious Investing 185
8. The Promise of Global Consciousness 225
Conclusion 259
Notes 265
vii
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Inrod!cion
T
odays headlines tell a story of economic turbulence: OCCUPY WALL
STREET. EUROPEAN MONETARY CRISIS. MORE AMERICANS IN POVERTY
THAN EVER. US JOB CREATION FRUSTRATINGLY SLOW. STOCK MARKET
VOLATILITY. Business, once confined to the financial pages, is now big
news on Main Street. Most people believe corporate greed plays a major
role in todays economic trouble and that human values are woefully lack-
ing in business policy and action. Millions have lost their homes, jobs, or
savings and feel they may never recover. Many more are paralyzed about
making financial decisions.
There is a reason why money tops the worry lists of so many people.
The antiquated, financial structures of yesteryear are crashing all around
us. But if youre willing to look beneath the surface, I will show you evi-
dence that a holistic, values-based economic transformation is well
underway, opening the door to a new era that can bring you fulfillment
and prosperity.
I call this emerging megatrend Conscious Money.
Conscious Money is a growing movement of people who draw on val-
ues, creativity, and the power of human consciousness to clarify and guide
their financial choices. Values are the transcendent ideals that connect
xiii
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xiv
us with our souls wisdom. When values also guide our financial decisions,
our choices are grounded in the deepest part of ourselves. Being creative
allows you to see things in a new way and to generate new possibilities.
Creativity requires higher consciousnessand then the willingness to act
on your insights. Higher consciousness links us to a state of awareness or
presence. To be conscious is to be present in ones work, with a person,
or in a situationwithout preconceived notions, emotional blocks, or
mental fixations.
Together, creativity and conscious presence are a powerful way to
grow Conscious Money. In fact, today, because of the economic shift Ill
soon describe, these inner resources constitute the primary economic driv-
ers behind success and wealth creation. Conscious people are awake,
aware, and living in what spiritual teacher Eckhart Tolle calls the Now,
the present moment. The ability to experience the Now by choice, and the
capacity to resolve issues and challenges in a creative way, form the core of
a new economic age.
Up till now people have viewed economic history in terms of three
commercial eras: agriculture, industry, and information. The Age of Infor-
mation began sometime in the mid-to-late1970s, when more people and
more companies created new wealth and new jobs through information
rather than through industry.
But today we have entered what I call the New Economy of Con-
sciousness. In this exciting new era, we create value not by sifting, mining,
or manipulating information but by creatively expressing the genius of
human consciousness. As this new age progresses, most of us will earn our
income through conscious creativity. In fact, experts agree that creativity
will be a very important talent to nurture for this new era, no matter what
your career, profession, or job might be.
Consciousness and values go hand in hand today. In this new eco-
nomic era, the emerging megatrend of Conscious Money connects the
outer world of money with the inner realm of human values and higher
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Introduction
xv
consciousness. Even as we witness the old economic order falling under
the weight of its profound unconsciousness and lack of values, a new eco-
nomic operating system is already coming forth to replace it.
For many people, money and values are incompatible. They believe
that decisions about moneythe practical, earthy, and external symbol of
economic exchangeought to be decided apart from their inner selves, the
seat of transcendence and the spirit. And certainly the commonplace world
of money and finance is almost exclusively devoted to the mindset of mak-
ing as much money, as fast as possible, by any means necessary. In such a
mindset, it matters not how unconsciously a person earns money, because
he or she can be (or appear to be) highly conscious by giving some of it
away to a worthy cause. These types of contributions can be beneficial, but
when we follow such a path, we set up a personal dynamic that divides us
in half and saps our power. As Cliff Feigenbaum, publisher of Green Money
Journal, says, Thats like profiting from tobacco stocks during the day and
contributing to the American Cancer Society at night.
1
Conscious Money flips this flawed assumption on its head. The truth
is your values can be a great financial asset. They can and should serve as
guidelines in making choices about money matters, while you also respect
sound financial principles.
This is something that I have discovered as a social forecaster and spiri -
tual seeker. Early in my career, I worked for Forbes magazine (tagline:
The Capitalist Tool). Later I became a number one bestselling author. The
Megatrends books that Ive co-written have sold more than fourteen mil-
lion copies worldwide. Ive lectured about these megatrends throughout
North and South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. After the publica-
tion of my book Megatrends 2010: The Rise of Conscious Capitalism, I was
named one of the Top 100 Thought Leaders in Business Behavior by
Trust Across America in 2011 and 2012. I have also served as a Public
Policy Fellow at Radcliffe College. For 30 years, Ive helped individuals
and businesses discover the opportunities of social and economic change.
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For the past decade, as a trend tracker I have studied how the Con-
scious Money megatrend plays out in business through Conscious
Capitalism, a humanistic, values-driven approach to free enterprise that
honors employees, customers, suppliers, the community, and the environ-
ment, not just investors. Conscious Capitalism illustrates that human
values and higher consciousness, when embodied in business, can generate
success. In fact, Ill cite studies which demonstrate that Conscious Capi-
talism can financially outperform conventional capitalism, thus illustrating
how effectively the combination of money and values together can foster
financial success.
Conscious Money can work at the individual level too. In these pages,
I will share the lessons Ive learned as a social forecaster, as well as the dis-
coveries Ive made on my financial journey and as an individual
committed to personal growth and spirituality.
Today, I feel confident and at peace about money. This is so even
though my net worth is less than it once was. I feel good about money
because my money is conscious, which is to say, I make financial choices
that reflect my values and awareness. As a result, I trust myself more and
worry about money a lot less.
This was not the case fifteen years ago. Although I viewed myself a
spiritual person, my money life was worrisome and unfulfilling. I spent
money and gave to myself, yet I sometimes felt empty. My holiday gifts
to others were excessive, stress inducing, and too often without joy. I also
committed many financial errors while investing. My worst mistakes
came when I sought to make money by investing in companies I did
not believe in or followed the advice of others without checking to see
how a decision felt within. I gave money and time to people and causes,
but I often felt more obligation than inspiration. I longed to earn my
income by being more creative, yet somehow felt stuck. Worst of all, I
second-guessed my financial choices and propelled myself into a spiral of
self-judgment.
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Finally, I decided to heal my relationship with money. More of my
deeper self, I sensed, had to be part of my financial life. So I vowed to con-
sult my inner self whenever I faced a financial choice. Not sure of what to
expect, I posed this budding awareness as a question: What would I see
or understand now if the right financial decision were also the right inner
choice? In other words, I held within myself the possibility of a positive
resolution between inner and outer, even though I didnt yet know what
that might look like. Gradually, I developed a felt sense that guided me
to make choices that both felt good and made financial sense. These deci-
sions satisfied both my heart and my head.
As my awareness grew, my financial life transformed. Overspending
became ridiculous. Why engage the energy of excess, when spending
consciously is so much more fulfilling? Investing was no longer a mine-
field of confusion but a great opportunity to make a difference while
growing my portfolio and learning about conscious companies. As I
came to trust myself, the doors of consciousness opened. Creativity and
intuition infused naturally into my work, earning, spending, investing,
and giving. I gave my time, money, and energy when it felt right and
grew comfortable saying no and sending love and goodwill instead when
it did not. Over time, I discovered the power, wisdom, and joy of Con-
scious Money.
In this book you will discover that when you make financial choices
that honor your values, you can gracefully navigate the new economy in
good times and bad. As a result, youll experience greater satisfaction as
you consciously and wisely spend, invest, earn, or contribute your
financial resources. All of these lessons will move you closer to fulfilling
the promise of Conscious Money.
You will learn about Conscious Money from the inside out, focusing
first on its internal dimension. Part I of this book is designed to help you
clarify your values and create a Conscious Money strategy based on those
values. You will learn how to release the unconscious thoughts, feelings, or
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xviii
patterns that can block a healthy relationship with money. And you will
develop what is perhaps the most important attribute of Conscious
Money: the capacity to make conscious choices, which is the essence of
self-mastery. This can be considered an essential money skill because
almost every financial error imaginable can somehow be connected to a
lack of self-mastery. The beauty of self-mastery, however, is that once you
begin even a single self-mastery practice, it can inform your choices and
make them more conscious.
You will gradually come to see that conscious choices are the result of
cultivating mental, emotional, and spiritual self-mastery, and these choices
will increasingly come naturally to you.
In Part II, we move into the outer dimension of Conscious Money:
embodying these inner principles as we enter the marketplace. First, we
look at the characteristics of Conscious Capitalism, so you can identify the
conscious enterprises with which you want to engage. You will find tools
for selecting products, companies, and financial partners that reflect your
personal values. There is one chapter devoted to each of your roles as a
consumer, earner, and investor. Finally, as a practitioner of Conscious
Money, you are an active participant and contributor in both the local and
global economies.
Throughout the book, there are interactive exercises to support you in
practicing the new capacities that this book presents. At the end of each
chapter, youll find a list of options to choose from, or to use as
inspiration, for creating your unique Conscious Money strategy, based on
your personal choices. Following the options list, there is a closing affir-
mation embodying a key point explored in the chapter.
There is one last and very important element of Conscious Money
to consider as we begin. The power of the individual lies in his or her
capacity for choice. As a result, we wield great influence as a force for
good in the economy. Conscious Money is about recognizing, embracing,
and activating this personal power. With every conscious financial choice,
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Introduction
xix
you alter the collective economic reality by healing the sense of separation
between the worldly (or external) quality of money and the spiritual
(or internal) dimensions of values and higher consciousness. With each
creative resolution, you are building the foundation for a new and con-
scious economy that will sustain the future of human evolution and
transformation.
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The F!ndamenals of
Conscio!s Mone#
1
C
onscious Money begins with you. Not with your wallet, savings,
home, possessions, or stock portfolio, but with you. It starts with your
values, and with your state of consciousness about money. It is a journey
that will lead you to explore your thoughts, feelings, and beliefs about
money in greater depth. And the first step we will take on the path to Con-
scious Money is to focus on your values, the inner strength that grounds
your Conscious Money strategy. Each individual is unique and to a great
extent, we express our individuality through our choices. Whether we
know it or not, what we value is the guiding force behind those choices.
Because your Conscious Money practice is sourced from and anchored
in a deeper part of yourself, the Conscious Money strategy that you will
create is unique to you. And it involves developing the internal tools to
make your money choices consciously.
People who seek to grow their money consciously, rather than by
avidly pursuing money for its own sake, often create more sustainable
finances. This is so for several reasons:
When your money choices are values-based, they require a more
thoughtful approach and often a longer time horizon. Over time, these
choices translate into better financial decisions. Practicing Conscious
3
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Conscious Money
4
Money brings you back to center again and again, steadying the way as
you negotiate the inevitable bumps that come with money and life. Most
of all, you embody a sense of goodwill that attracts the right people and
right opportunities at the right time.
The objective of Conscious Money is not to get rich (and certainly
not to get rich quick) but to earn, invest, and spend financial resources in
ways that are congruent with your ideals and awareness. Yet even though
Conscious Money is not about getting rich, there is good reason to expect
that youll grow your finances as you practice it. Thats because there is
already a well-established track record for making money through the
powerful combination of values and higher consciousness. Youll discover
this track record as you learn more about the megatrend of Conscious
Capitalism.
Conscious Money and Conscious Capitalism are cut from the same
financial cloth, in that they share the same economic operating principle:
when values and greater awareness, in conjunction with solid monetary
practices, inform a financial strategy, sustainable Conscious Money is the
result. This is as true for individuals as it is for businesses.
As your money (your income, cash, savings, expenses, investments,
and philanthropic contributions) becomes Conscious Money, that is,
when your money is imbued with your values and consciousness, you in
time create what I like to call Conscious Wealth. Some people might not
feel comfortable with the term wealth, but all it really means is the
money that remains when you deduct expenses from income. Your Con-
scious Wealth might consist of fifty dollars or one million. Its not the
amount but your intention about your money that matters most.
There is a very real difference between unconscious and conscious
wealth. You might not see it in the figures of your bank account, but you
will feel it in your heart.
Because Conscious Wealth is created from the inside out, it is
anchored in what really matters to you: it is grounded in meaning.
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Patricia Aburdene
5
In this chapter, we begin the journey toward Conscious Money by
focusing on your values, and on the basics of a sound Conscious Money
strategy. Then, well explore the capacity to make money choices con-
sciously in chapters 2 and 3.
Values
It may appear that your values dont directly influence your financial well-
being, but they do. Its difficult, however, to see a direct link between
money and values because almost everyone is influenced by traditional
money thinking, which is rooted in considerations like self-preservation or
self-interest, which are validup to a point.
The trouble arises when we follow the mundane path of self-interest
so exclusively that we shut down our higher, soulful instincts. If we
sacrifice justice, truth, or compassion to promote our self-interest, we will
suffer a profound sense of self-betrayal. Success feels empty because our
self-serving actions fail to mirror our values or true spiritual identity.
As we explore topics like conscious investing and mindful spending,
you will see that many of the best financial choices also powerfully validate
your values. The path of Conscious Money might look like this:
You would seek a job that respects your values, taps into your creativ-
ity, or honors your desire to make a difference. And you wouldnt stop
searching until you found it. Since you love your fulfilling work, you suc-
ceed in it and that boosts your income.
Youd spend mindfully on purchases that reflect your values. You might
pay a bit more for local organic food, for example, if well-being were an
important value for youand you would cut back elsewhere in your
budget. Youd certainly avoid the trap of overspending to feel good about
yourself, only to find yourself temporarily satisfied but increasingly in debt.
Once you grow enough Conscious Money to consider investing, your
values, along with your consciousness and intuition, would help direct
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Conscious Money
6
your research as you as consider companies and projects that fulfill your heart
and satisfy your head. If your choices fulfill you both mentally and
emotionally, it is likely such investments will also make good financial sense.
To walk the path of Conscious Money, however, it is essential that you
first know exactly what your values are.
Your Unique Values
You possess a unique set of values made up of spiritual ideals like truth,
justice, or compassion. These are your transcendent values. Most likely,
you also embrace concrete standards like accountability, hard work, or
simplicity. These are your practical values. Together, these intangible forces
guide your choices, whether in finance, work, or relationships.
But few of us can instantly cite our top values; we have them all right,
but they are often somewhat obscured and thus unconscious. So lets
uncover, identify, clarify, and reflect on our deeply held values.
Values clarification is a simple process, yet it requires a bit of thought.
The exercise, Choose Your Top Values, will help guide you through this
process. The first step is to review a list of sample transcendent and
practical values. Feel free to consider additional values that are meaningful
for you. It is a good idea to take your time and get to know your most
deeply held values, say your top three. Selecting a limited number of values
may be challenging, but it tells you what you care about most. Over time,
you may also want to choose your number one value, the one that is most
meaningful for you. You will find the exercise an enlightening one that will
greatly help you to focus in on the right Conscious Money choices for you.
Choose Your Top Values
Review the list of values that follows. It includes both spiritual and practical
values. Note those values that are important to you but do not appear here.
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Patricia Aburdene
7
First, select the ten values from the list below that most deeply
resonate with you.
Reduce that list to your top five values, then to three, and then to
two.
Then, select your most important value.
Finally, write down your top two or three values Briefly describe why
each is important for you. (Ill soon invite you to create a Conscious
Money journal for collecting notes like these.)
There are no right or wrong answers about your values. You may find
that practical values are as important to you as spiritual ones. When I did
this exercise decades ago, I was a bit surprised to discover that my top
value was a practical one: resilience. Later I thought, Thats right. How
can I practice love or justice if I cant pick myself up off the floor after a
big disappointment?
Achievement Faith Love Security
Accountability Freedom Loyalty Self-Reliance
Adventure Friendship Meaning Self-respect
Beauty Fun Openness Service
Community Goodness Personal Growth Simplicity
Creativity Hard work Practicality Sustainability
Discipline Harmony Privacy Success
Efficiency Independence Reliability Tolerance
Excellency Individuality Resilience Trust
Excitement Integrity Resourcefulness Truth
Friendship Justice Respect Wisdom
How we hold our values powerfully influences our actions. If you
honor integrity over success, you wont feel the need to lie in order to do
well in life. But if you revere success first and foremost, you might lie,
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Conscious Money
8
cheat, or steal to succeed (or you might not; its just a possibility). When
you know what you stand for, you possess the clarity to take steps, includ-
ing financial steps that are congruent with your values.
Well-being, justice, compassion, and other values influence your
money choices. If sustainability is one of your top values, you will most
likely choose to protect the environment by refusing to invest in a chemi -
cal manufacturing company whose factory runoff harms waterways or
whose emissions pollute the air. If reliability rates high on your values list,
you might well choose to pay a bit more for a car or a laptop with a repu-
tation for rarely malfunctioning and needing service.
At the heart of Conscious Money is the desire to exemplify your care-
fully identified personal values in your financial interactions. As
tremendously useful as values are for gauging your choices and making
difficult decisions easier, they involve far more than practical considera-
tions. Spiritual or transcendent values express humanitys greatest soul
qualities. Theyre the imprints of Spirit that accompany you on the
journey of life.
A Conscious Money Strategy
Conscious Money is both a mindful practice and a financial strategy. The
choices you make while practicing Conscious Money set the stage for
greater fulfillment and financial success. That is because Conscious Money
enhances sound financial practice with the inner resources of values and
consciousness. Together, these positive attributes foster sustainable
financial resources in the long-term.
A Fresh Take on Personal Finance
Conscious Money offers a powerful complement to traditional personal
finance. This is because at its heart lies a potent truth: people make wiser
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Patricia Aburdene
9
money choices, and can therefore grow money in a more sustainable man-
ner, when their actions match their ideals and reflect their expanded
awareness.
But even some thoughtful financial plans stop short of advocating
values as a primary factor in financial decision making. Instead, they
endorse the imperative of making money first and treat values as a second-
ary consideration, if at all. Such a stance, however, leaves us without an
inner compass. Transcendent values, intuitive wisdom, and the expanded
awareness of higher consciousness constitute a powerful guidance system,
especially for navigating uncertain economic times.
Many personal finance plans are supposed to work for you whoever
you are. While most of us agree that getting out of debt is usually a very
good idea, in fact, that choice doesnt necessarily work for everyone.
For example, if you are in the prime earning years, your forties and
fifties, and you are looking to pay off your mortgage in order to live debt
free (as one financial plan advocates), youd actually lose a valuable tax
deduction. However, paying off your mortgage as you gear up for retire-
ment, when income typically falls, could prove to be a wise move. The
path of Conscious Money invites you to explore a range of options, elimi-
nate those that do not work for you, remain true to your ideals, and
exercise personal responsibility by selecting only those choices that are
right for your unique personal circumstances.
Personal finance covers many different topics such as financial plan-
ning, budgeting, debt elimination, real estate, investing, estate planning,
saving, financing education, wealth creation, and more. Conscious Money,
in contrast, is an overall financial perspective and strategy. With the excep-
tion of investing, it is not within the scope of this book to address in detail
these typical elements of money planning. For that kind of information
you might explore the work of personal finance teachers such as Dave
Ramsey, who focuses on how to get out of debt; Suze Orman, who offers a
comprehensive approach to personal finance; or Vicki Robin, who helps
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10
people cut free of consumerist culture and move toward financial inde-
pendence. Their websites appear in the resources listed in the chapter
options.
Even though Conscious Money embraces a more values-based and
customized approach to finance, a good Conscious Money strategy incor-
porates the basic principles of personal finance. Lets briefly review a few
of the more important ones:
1. Live below your means. The old expression live within your means
has given too many people permission to spend every dollar they
earn. Result: a dearth of savings and a wealth of debt. Thank the
Great Recession, however, for todays grassroots cheap is chic
movement. Its a breath of fresh air.
(The classic definition of a recession is two or more quarters
when the economy fails to grow. But the Great Recession lasted
much longer than most recessions. Furthermore, even after it
ended, at least technically, the housing market remained weak and
hiring was exasperatingly slow to recover. That is why millions of
people experienced that the recession was still going on, even after
economists had declared it over.)
2. Saveearly and often. That is exactly what many Europeans and
Asians have famously done. Not so in the United States. But in
2010 and 2011, Americans started saving more. Pay yourself first
is an old but excellent adage.
3. Be fully conscious about your expenses. Know what they are, and be
certain that they reflect your values and priorities. Writing them
down is a great way to begin. Then take time to reflect on your
expenses and the motives behind them, as you will have a chance do
in the exercise following this chapter.
4. Create priorities and then make trade-offs. When you know what matters
most to you, its easier to choose what you really want to do and save
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elsewhere in your budget. Love going out for dinner? Be an expert of
value restaurants. Crazy about the movies? Skip the expensive theatre
tickets and download a frugal flick from iTunes or Amazon.
5. Have a clear financial goal. It is a lot easier to tackle a challenging
financial issue, such as getting out of debt or building a sizable nest
egg, when you can consistently draw on inspiration by invoking a
clear image of what you desire. Find the needed discipline with a vivid
picture of what you want and why you want it. Know your goals.
Integrate the practical power of sound financial principles with the
wisdom of personal values and human consciousness. Because when you
act in harmony with your truth, while observing the basic rules of finance,
you make better and more satisfying financial choices.
Choosing Financial Goals
We all have goals, whether or not we are aware of them. I use the term
goal as a statement of desire, intention, and choice. Vague and poorly
defined goals or intentions do not get you where you want to go, nor are
they conscious. At the same time, overly exact goals leave little to no room
for the Universe to surprise you with a creative solution or with more than
youve requested.
The key is to formulate clear but not excessively precise goals that are
designed to make you feel great each time you articulate them. You might
decide, I want to own a beautiful house that I can easily afford. Or My
goal is to thrive financially, serving clients that I genuinely enjoy. Or
Next year, I will focus my thoughts and feelings on the freedom and joy I
will feel as I eliminate my debts.
In many ways, the granddaddy of goal creation is Napoleon Hill, who
wrote an enormously successful book about getting rich at a time when
people were anything but. In 1937, in the belly of the Great Depression,
Patricia Aburdene
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12
Napoleon Hill published Think and Grow Rich. The book is based on what
Hill calls the secret of wealth creation, which, he says, was whispered into
his ear by the wealthy and famous industrialist Andrew Carnegie.
Hill met the illustrious Carnegie as a reporter assigned to interview
him. As Hill tells it, Carnegie asked me if I would be willing to spend
twenty years or more, preparing myself to take it [the secret] to men and
women who, without the secret, might go through life as failures. Hill
promised Carnegiethat canny, lovable old Scotsmanthat he would
do so and plunged himself into years of research on wealthy people.
1
Hill did his homework, analyzing some 500 exceedingly well-to-do
individuals. One very important trait he discovered was that wealthy peo-
ple create their great fortunes primarily with Thought and Definite
Major Purpose.
2
Today, wed probably characterize these success elements
as goals.
Napoleon Hill has long since passed on, but you can still get a good
feel for the man on YouTube, where you can watch the dapper Mr. Hill, a
Harry Truman look-alike, deliver short lectures. Even in the autumn of his
years, Hill is ever confident, articulate, passionate, and practical.
Hill advises the would-be wealthy to buy themselves a good notebook.
First, he says, write out your idea of success and major financial desire.
Your success, he emphasizes, depends on your definiteness of purpose.
3
Hill has much more to say about wealth creation. However, here I
want to suggest using his advice about making organized plans, and
having a definite purpose when it comes to goals.
Goals are essential to the practice of Conscious Money because they
focus your energy and keep you motivated about what you want most.
You may have heard that it is a good idea to set goals that are challenging,
yet within your reach. This is good advice.
But setting goals might not be the best way to go about the process.
For most of us, goal setting is primarily a mental exercise. There is nothing
wrong with that. However, for a Conscious Money practitioner, a better
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approach may be to explore more deeply and discover which goals move
you most. Instead of thinking in terms of setting goals, you might create
the intention to recognize which goals you authentically desire. It is not a
question of rejecting the mental dimension of your goals but of aligning
heart and head. When you do, you liberate the greatest resource you pos-
sess for achieving those goals: the power of your willwhich is naturally
activated when heart and head are in harmony.
Building Your Conscious Money Strategy
As you progress through this book, I invite you to create a personalized
overall Conscious Money strategy to guide your financial life. A strategy is
a plan that gets you from where you are to where you want to go. Start by
asking yourself, Where am I right now? Acknowledge where you cur-
rently stand, point A. Next, decide where you want to be at a later time,
point B, by asking yourself, Where do I want to be? Also choose a time
frame that makes sense for you. It might be six months, one year, or
longer. In goal setting, its important to have an end date, a by when,
because it gives you a framework for your subsequent choices.
To support building your Conscious Money strategy, I recommend
creating a Conscious Money journal. In the journal, you can collect your
insights from the numerous interactive exercises youll find throughout
this book. Your journal is also a place where you can capture ideas, make
plans, and design your personal Conscious Money strategy.
For example, as you set goals and begin to strategize, you might say, I
have no savings right now. I want to have $500 in the bank six months
from now. That statement covers points A and B and your timeline. It is
not yet a strategy, but it defines where you want to go and when you want
to get there.
Now lets apply this approach to a broader topic: your relationship
with money. Open your journal and explain in a paragraph or two, where
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you are right now in terms of money. Next take a visionary leap of faith
and describe where want to be in your relationship with money at the
time in the future that you choose. Youve again clarified your personal
points A and B and your timeline.
Your Conscious Money strategy comprises a set of specific money
choices that create an overall framework for conducting your financial life.
The objective of this book is to deliver the information, inspiration, and
suggested options to help you build that strategy.
When it comes to finance, there are no one-size-fits-all solutions or
formulas. For a host of reasons, such as your age, income, and many
other factors, what works for you might not suit a person whose circum-
stances differ from your own. As you consider your financial options
while honoring the principles of sound finance, notice how you feel. You
will begin to observe that the best choices for you will make sense, feel
good, and resonate.
Options alone do not constitute a strategy. You must transform an
option into a choice. Begin by making an inner choice. Select the options
that both feel good and help you achieve your goals and then gradually act
on them. That will launch the customized strategy that advances from
where you are to where you want to be. At first you might take actions
that represent relatively small steps. Then when you are ready, you can
increase the size and substance of your commitments and actions.
Lets revisit to the goal to save $500 in six months. Six months is
about twenty-four weeks. So in theory, you need to average at least $20
per week in savings. To achieve your desire, you might entertain several
possibilities. Two immediately come to mind: reduce your expenses by
$20 per week or grow your income by the same amount. It would be a
useful exercise to brainstorm three ways to cut costs, such as bringing
your lunch to work, eliminating that daily latte, or skipping drinks with
your colleagues after work. To boost your income, you could babysit, do
lawn work, or take a job in a store or restaurant for a few hours each
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week. When you have clarified your goals, researched or brainstormed
your options, and committed to acting on your choice, or choices, you
have a strategy.
But your comprehensive Conscious Money strategy will include a lot
more inner work than the practical example illustrated above, however
concrete and useful it may be.
Conscious Money Options
The list of Conscious Money options at the end of each chapter is
designed to offer you possible choices, while also encouraging your own
creative thinking. The options are grouped as reflections, resources, and
right actions.
The reflections can support your commitment to cultivate the inner
dimension of Conscious Money. Economic conditions and your personal
situation will shift. In the face of change, you can return again and again
to your inner compass of values and higher consciousness by reviewing the
options labeled reflections.
The resources are designed to expand your thinking and base of
information. The journey toward Conscious Money need not be a lonely
one. You need resources and will probably enjoy companionship. From
websites and books to experts and trusted friends, from corporations to
nonprofit associations, resources are your allies on the journey toward
Conscious Money.
The right actions suggest the concrete steps that you can take to
further your Conscious Money practice. Without action, you do not have
a strategy; with right action, you have a conscious one. Inspired by reflec-
tion and informed by resources, you suffuse your actions with
consciousness.
As you plot your Conscious Money strategy, select among the options
those that genuinely resonate for you. Let the list also inspire your own
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ideas. Write your additional options into your journal. Remember also
that a recommendation that does not ring true for you today might be a
perfect fit three months from now.
When you pick your best, most resonant options, you will naturally
want to assume responsibility for them and to take action too. Your
personal choice is critical because it is your Conscious Money, and you
must live with the consequences of your choices. So begin by taking a few
small steps and observing how you feel about the choices you have made.
Grow your confidence organically. When you feel ready, take a somewhat
bigger step. Chapter by chapter, you will be selecting those steps or
options, which, when acted upon, constitute the core of your Conscious
Money strategy.
Following each options list is a declaration that describes a positive
state of being related to the chapters topic. Feel free to substitute your
own words to describe the conscious financial life you want to live in the
time frame you have chosen.
Your Money Life
Your money life is actually a complex web of human affiliations, partner-
ships, and interactions. So you will be in a better position to thrive
financially when you invest in positive, healthy relationships. The people in
your money life have an interest or stake in your financial success or failure.
They might include a child you hope to send to college, or a spouse (or
former spouse) who is dependent on you, at least in part, as a breadwinner.
They might also include financial partners, like the enterprises you patron-
ize, the companies into which you invest, the bank that holds your
mortgage, or the charities and other worthy projects to which you con-
tribute your Conscious Money.
Its worthwhile to commit to creating high quality relationships with
each of the people in your web of financial interactions. For example, take
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a moment to say hello to the manager of your local bank or grocery store.
Should an issue arise, this person will be a good ally. Positive relationships
make life a lot more pleasant.
Your money life also possesses an overall feel. This is the atmosphere
or emotional climate in which you conduct your finances. Notice how you
feel while paying your bills or examining the balances of your checking,
savings, or brokerage accounts. Some people might be in survival mode,
while others feel confident. Many are simply overwhelmed. A state like
scarcity or productive efficiency could characterize a persons money life.
As the emotional atmosphere of your money life reflects more of your
purpose, values, and positive relationships, it will feel better. You will start
to move out of old money patterns and begin to experience a sense of
openness, poise, and flow. Your money choices will gradually be liberated
from the pull of old, limiting patterns as you become aware of habitual
thoughts and feelings. How to achieve this freedom is the topic of the next
two chapters.
Exercises
Identify Your Conscious Wealth Goals
Take out your Conscious Money journal and write a simple statement that
expresses your goal or intention about growing Conscious Wealth: for
example, I will save fifty dollars per month by depositing it into my sav-
ings account before cashing my paycheck, or, This year I will explore
ways to consciously invest my annual bonus. Do not overthink your goal.
Let it emerge naturally. Just be certain it feels good to you.
Once a month or so, revisit this basic Conscious Wealth statement.
Add additional goals in the form of statements as your Conscious Money
intentions reveal themselves to you. Clarify your goals by describing any
further thoughts or ideas you have about them. Give them a timeline if
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that feels right for you. If your Conscious Money goals are slow to emerge,
take heart; your journey has only just begun.
After you have refined these statements for a while and identified
those that resonate most for you, choose a few that you want continue
working with. I suggest you limit yourself to two or three Conscious
Money goals. If you choose more than that, you risk losing focus. Of
course, once you achieve one of these goals, you can release it in apprecia-
tion and create a new one.
Cultivating Consciousness about Your Expenses
To be genuinely conscious about money, it is essential that you be fully
aware of what you are spending. To shed the light on your expenses, it is
a good idea to examine them systematically. You can get started by review-
ing your expenses and observing your reaction to them.
Take a piece of paper. Make two columns. List your monthly expenses
in the left column. Breathe deeply. Look at each item.
1. What do you feel? Write it down in the right column.
2. Notice any spending patterns. Where are you spending more money
than you choose?
3. Review the feelings captured on the right side. What do they tell
you?
Options
Reflections
Consider your emotional reaction to the terms Conscious Money and
Conscious Wealth. If the latter does not work for you, select a neutral
term such as Conscious Nest Egg or Conscious Savings Account.
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Think of values and consciousness as your inner compass. When you
make a financial choice, consult that compass and notice your feelings.
Ask yourself these questions and write your answers in your
Conscious Money journal:
Do I experience harmony between my values and my money?
Am I at ease or fearful of making money choices based on my
values?
Am I attracted to quick and easy financial fixes?
Tune in to the possibility of a new financial mindset where values and
consciousness ground every day money choices.
Assume personal responsibility for your financial life.
Resources
Pick a Conscious Money partner, a trustworthy, like-minded friend
with whom you can share your practice, successes, and challenges.
Create your own board of financial advisors. They may be people in
your life, like your accountant; deceased individuals, like your wise
granddad; or luminaries, such as Warren Buffet or Suze Orman.
Decide or intuit what advice each would give you.
For more information on the personal finance teachers cited earlier,
consult their websites: SuzeOrman.com, DaveRamsey.com, and Vicki
Robin at ymoyl.wordpress.com.
Assemble a list of people in your money network. It might be useful
to organize them by category, such as personal, work, commercial,
investment, and philanthropic. Describe each persons role in your
money network. Your boss and coworkers, for example, might further
your career, and therefore boost your income.
Read or reread Think and Grow Rich. The Atria / Beyond Words edi-
tion contains a foreword by Napoleon Hills grandson.
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Watch the Napoleon Hill video (cited in this chapters notes) on
YouTube. In your journal, follow his journaling directions, which
appear on page XX.
Right Actions
Describe your financial circumstances in your journal, noting your
age, family status, occupation, income, savings, monthly expenses,
debt, and other obligations. When reviewing the options at the end of
each chapter, consider which ones are appropriate to your financial
situation. Seek added input from a financial planner or advisor.
Honor the basic principles of personal finance described on page XX.
Determine whether you need a financial planner. You might if youve
had a child, received a large sum of money, or must roll over an IRA.
To choose a certified financial planner you might consult the
Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards whose website is
cfp.net. Or ask a financial or investment professional to recommend
one who works with clients whose circumstances are similar to yours.
Select a financial authority to follow on the Web, in magazines, on tel-
evision, or via Twitter. The websites of three money gurus whose
ideas are fairly compatible with a Conscious Money strategy are cited
in the resources section above.
Set up your Conscious Money journal in a format that works for you.
Write in longhand or on the computer. Pick paper with or without
lines. To collect your insights on the go, keep a small notebook with
you or use the notes feature on your mobile device.
Express your authentic truth in your journal ten minutes per day
or longer.
Know your top human values and financial goals. Keep them handy.
Write them in your journal, citing why they are important for you.
Carry a short list of your values in your wallet or on your mobile.
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Start to practice calling on your intuition as you examine the options
that will constitute your Conscious Money strategy. True intuition
feels good and makes sense.
Review your favorite Conscious Wealth statement every three to six
months; revise and update it, adding new good feeling details to keep
it fresh and current.
Open a new bank account the purpose of which is to be a sacred vessel
for your Conscious Money. Deposit all of your new income into it.
Conscious Money Affirmation
I am getting clear on my Conscious Money values, goals, and strategy.
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